Clamp for holding nipples upon nursing bottles



J. R. RANGE CLAMP Fon HOLDING NIPPLES UPON NURSING BOTTLES Nov. 11 1924.

Filed- Jan. 29. 1924 INVENTOR.

ATTORN.

Patented New., ll, i924.

n einen entes J AMES R. RANGE, OE RAT-1D CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA..

Application rtiled Jan-'nary 29, 392e. lleiia 910.659,345.

To .all wiz/0m t may cometh.

lle it known the-t JAMES, Reiten, e eiteen ol the United States, nesiding et Rapid 'Ci-ty, in the county of lDenningt/on and .State of `South lekote, have invented oei'tnin new :and nsenl Improvements in Clamps tor liioldingfNipples upon Nursing Bottles, ol which the following especifiention, `i'etere-nce ybeing lied. te the aecompanying drawings. A y

This intention lDeletes to ien impnoyed oleinp for `use in holding e `nipple :upon e bottle, end :one objeetof the invention is to provide @e ela-mp which is so constructed that the nipple .may 'be fyer'y iinmly held `in engagement 'with Ythe lbgottle. lt avery yoften happens that after the `:nipple has heen put in place upon e hottie, the heloy or small child will pull the 'ni-,pple rofl",y :thus following the milk to escape. y rllhfis noty only 4oeuses e Weste of milk hut fe-lso keeuses the milk to low over thenightgown the rohsild Weering and ,conse` the' Hiightgown and falso the hlenkets and sheets on the crib to" fbe soaked 4Withvthe milk. EThe improved Clamp hes,

therefore, been devisedinot only so that it can seeinfely fel'wmp the :nipple to the bottle, but also so tliet :the :snm-ll Child :cannot readily grasp the latch 'and inove the lateh to e weleens-'ing position.'y

knot-hei 'object oit 1the invention is tolse construct this clasp endso foonneot it with the strip defining the lhody of 4the kelemp that when in the Iclosed position `it may iti-t "very close to the nipple with its louter ieee projecting :only e very short distance from the outer 'fece :oit th'e'strip oiening the body oi' the olofnip. j n

.Another object ofthe invention `fis ato so construct this elem@ the tithe fh'ody )pontion fend the .einen may be Foil-.ined fol' .sheet metal and Connected hy Wire links,?tl1;us @enmitting the Chimp to "be cheaply lo rodueed' aand sold at smell cost.'v f l This :intent-ien fis llustifete'd iny the eee'e'mp enyingg :dvnwings .wherein-:wf

Fig: '1 is ,n niew in side :elevation shown eleseenifed upon n `bottle :hyfmeans el the oned'felespg l y Figline all fe tteii'sverse gsentionel `View teken along the line 2"?J of Figline '1 and "showing the Clash yain top gelen; l o Figure 3 is fn nnsvei'se :sectional :taken .feflong the .ine t8 i 3 fof lignive '1f-end ,slmeiiuf'geli'e` eiesp nfseotiongnnd Figure 4l is e perspective view/ot1 the clasp.

This iinpi'oyed vClamp is for use lin ,conneetion with bottles to .retain the nipple thereon end While it has heen shown used in connections with bottle B ,of thela-ige neck type Ceii'ying e nipple N toi' fitting upon the open end of this hottie, it'will lee undei'stood thet by making the eleinp `of the piopei size itfeo-uld falso he used in oonneetion lwith hotties yoil the smell `neck type. lt will, thefe'oie, be see-nv that the ,clamp can be used ineon-nection 4with bottles and nipples oi 'eny Conventional ye nistruetion in Wh'ehthe -`n-iqople tits overy the open end of the bottle.

This improved elem-p is provided with a, ,hot-1y y:poition'i formed of e strip :of sheet metal ywhich may he vol* resilient materiel if yso desired hut does not need to lhe i'esilient. The strip will he formed the desired length noooitding .to the type of ybottle with which the clamp is to he need and has its .end portions oiined into sleeves 2 eind 3 in which 4ne loosely :moimted the links ,4 and 5. These links 4i and `5 .ere foined of Wire end faire neetenguler in shefpe. lVhen the Clamp in e releasing or inopeietive :position the links .eine in spliced relation to keeeh .other 'but when the clamp .is iin e :tightened posi?- tion about the nipple, the links will lee moved into overlapping relation to eeeh other, thereby Causing the end poitions oi the ehe-et nietel strip l"l to he drawn towards leach othei1 end `this strip held tightly about fthe nipple.

ln ondei to ldiaw the links and :the lend ,portions of the strip towards each other end y'retain them in thisfelemping position, theie :has heen `provided `va` latch which is indicated iin general byfthe numeral 6 and intermediate its length is lloosely connected with the link e; y@ne end "portion is loosely oon- -nfeoted With the link f5 fend the yother end portion is' :provided `with a hill for looking engagement with @the sleeve 'It `will loe `i'eedily l.undeifsto'od that when the rleteh is, :moved to swing-@the hilllpoition fthereointo engagement with 4the sleeve `'3.,' the @they `end ipoition Will'fhe swung to dlew the vlink f5 y-ilnenenth fthe flink Iemand thereby reduce :the :dienifeteifgoil fthespeeefenelosedubytheistrip 1. r"This ylatch 6 iis xpiefeiehly .formed Ytrein e :strip ,of :sheet metal doubled intenmediete its length :to npiovigde 1e `body fportion A7 which has one fend eportion doubled end folded v S, the free end portio-n of which is curved as shown at 9. This bill is of sufficient length to permit its free end portion to en gage the sleeve 3 and snap beneath the sleeve when the lever is moved to swing the free end portion of the lever downwardly towards the sleeve 3. The upper or outer leaf of the vstrip forming the latch extends beyond the end of the lower leaf and this extended end portion is rolled to provide a bearing sleeve 10 in which is positioned one end portion of the link 5. The shorter inner leaf of the latch forming strip is also rolled to provide a sleeve ll'positioned inten mediate the sleeve 10 and free end of the bill 8. TheI latch lever extends through the link 4 and the sleeve 11 receives the end bar of the link 4. It'shouldbe further noted that the links 4 and 5 are of such length and ,the sleeves l() and l1 spaced apart to such plane and will fit in close engagement with the portion of the nipple positioned about the open end of the bottle.

Then this device is in use the nipple is placed upon the bottle in the usual manner andthe clamp will then be placed about the portion of thenipple fitting upon the bottle. After the clamp has kbeen put in place about the nipple, the latch lever' will be forced towards the locking position and this action will cause the link 4 to be drawn into |overlapping relation to the link 5. rlfhis will cause the band or strip 1 to be drawn tightly about the nipple and firmly bind the nipple upon the bottle. 'Vhen the curved free end portion of the bill S of this latch lever engages the sleeve 3 additional pressure will be applied and the bill will snap into place beneath the rounded side portion of the sleeve where it will be held by the frictional binding between the sleeve and the resilient bill portion of the latch. When in this position the nipple will be firmly held in place and cannot be pulled from the bottle until the latch has been forced outwardly to a releasing position. In view of the fact that the free end portion of this latch fits very close to thenipple it cannot be readily grasped and swung outwardly to a i kreleasing position by the small child and therefore there is no danger of the nipple being pulled olf of the bottle and permit the milk to pass out of the bottle. While the lever has been described as being formed of sheet metal, it willbe understood that this latch lever could be formed in other ways, it being essential, however, that it` be curved longitudinally to conform to the shape of the bottle and have the inturn'ed bill at one kvend, itsv sleeve at `the other "end and the second sleeve intermediate the first sleeve and the free end of the bill.

What is claimed is l. A nipple securing clamp comprising a substantially circular body portion formed of a strip of material and having sleeves at its ends, open links loosely mounted in said sleevesy and extending towards each other and adapted to be moved into overlapping relation, and a latch lever having a longitudinally curvedv body portion extending through one of said links and having a bearing sleeve extending transversely across its under face and intermediate its length and loosely fitting upon the last mentioned link, the inner end of said latch lever being provided with a bearing sleeve extending across its inner face and loosely receiving the outer end portion of the other link, the outer end portion of said latch lever being provided with a bill extending beneath the under face of the lever and adaptedto have frictional engagement with a sleeve of the body forming strip to secure the latch when the latch is swung to the locking position.

2. A nipple securing clamp comprising a body portion formed of a strip havingv its end portions provided with bearing sleeves, a link loosely mounted in they bearing sleeve at one end of said strip and a second link loosely mounted in the bearing sleeve at the other end of said strip, said links being adapted to be moved into overlapping relation to draw the ends of the strip towards each other, lsaid bearing sleeves being positioned outwardly from the outer face of said strip, and a latch including a longitudinally curved body portion having rone end portion extending through the first link and provided intermediate its length with a bearing sleeve extending across its underface and loosely mounted upon the outer end portion ofthe first link, the end portion of said lever being provided with a bearing sleeve extending across its under face and loosely receiving the o-uter end por tion of the second link and adapted to lit into the first link when the lever is swung to a locking position with the sleeve intermediate the length of the latch positioned within the second link and the links in overlapping relation to each other and a bill extending beneath the free end portion of said lever for frictionally engaging .with the sleeve carrying the second link to releaseably hold the latch lever in a locking position. f

3. A clamp for securing a nip-ple about `a bottle, said clamp comprising a strip having its end portions rolled outwardly to provide bearing sleeves, links loosely fitting in said sleeves, and a latch lever for drawing said linksl into overlapping relation and tightening said strip about the nipple, said latch lever being formed from a strip o-f material doubled intermediate its length to provide a body portion, the doubled stripy being further bent to provide an inwardly extending bill having its free end portion curved to snap beneath the sleeve at one end of the strip when the latch is in a loek ing position, the inner leaf of said folded strip being rolled to provide a depending sleeve loosely receiving the outer end portion of one of said links and the outer leaf of the folded strip being projected beyond a In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

JAMES R. RANGE. 

